Jakarta attack raises fears

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, July 18, 2009

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Two days ago, they checked into room 1808 at the swank J.W. Marriott Hotel — smuggling explosives past metal detectors and security guards. Behind the closed door, investigators say the suicide attackers then assembled the bombs set off Friday at the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton next door.

The blasts killed at least eight people and wounded more than 50 — and broke a four-year lull in terrorism in the world's most populous Muslim nation. At least eight Americans were among those injured in the two blasts.

Indonesia was last hit by terrorists in October 2005, when three suicide bombers with explosives-laden backpacks killed 20 people at restaurants on the resort island of Bali. The Jakarta Marriott was targeted six years ago in a car bombing that left 12 people dead. Both attacks were blamed on the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Friday's attackers evaded hotel security and smuggled explosives into the Marriott by posing as guests and assembling the bombs in room 1808, where an undetonated device was later found by police.

"They had been using the room as their 'command post' since July 15, and today they were supposed to check out," police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said. At the Marriott, such a "deluxe" room, with marble-decorated bathrooms and plush furnishings, goes for about $200 a night.

Security video footage captured the moment of the explosion. The brief, grainy images show a man in a cap pulling a bag on wheels across the Marriott lobby toward the restaurant, followed by a flash and a blast of white smoke.

Alex Asmasubrata, who was jogging nearby, said he walked into the Marriott before emergency services arrived and "there were bodies on the ground, one of them had no stomach. It was terrible."

International luxury hotels have become a common target for extremists in recent years, with at least eight bombings at major chains since 2003.

In Indonesia, security is tight at five-star hotels, where guests must typically walk through metal detectors and vehicles are inspected. But many visitors say searches are often cursory.

Defense analyst Paul Beaver, former top editor at Jane's Defense Weekly, said putting in place the kind of stringent security measures needed to help prevent attacks is difficult for hotels — and risks making properties that are supposed to be welcoming to weary travelers feel like prisons.

None of the Americans suffered life-threatening injuries, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.